


I Wish You Weren't So Sad

by newtntommy



Series: 30 Day Newtmas Prompt Challenge [4]
Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Depressed Newt, Depression, Fluff, M/M, Pet Store, basically everyone's a cat but newt and thomas, ben is a cat, chuck is a cat, gally is a cat, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4452233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newtntommy/pseuds/newtntommy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt:  would it be okay to request a newtmas one for "i work at the animal shelter and you always come in to pet the cats when you’re sad" ? it's totally okay not to do it though :-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wish You Weren't So Sad

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i was busy all day and then ao3 decided to stop working lol sorry it's late. 
> 
> hope it's good though! it was weird how i ended it (for me anyway) but i kinda liked it

The bell above the door rings signaling another customer. Thomas brings his head above the front desk to show where he was.

“Welcome to the Animal Glade. If you need any assistance, I’m over here,” he announces loud enough to be heard, and then he ducks back down to finish stocking the fish food that was kept at the front desk. He hears a quiet ‘okay’ as he finishes. Recognition sweeps in Thomas’s mind and he realizes it was the boy again. The boy named Newt who showed up every two days to play and pet the cats. He never said anything except for one-worded answers, even when Thomas tries his might to start a conversation. The blond just smiled and nodded after everything he says. 

He stands up, rubbing his hands together to get the fallen food off them and looks over at Newt. “How are you doing today Newt?” 

“Good,” Newt answers under his breath. Thomas has long ago gotten used to Newt’s quiet voice. 

“That’s good. Only a handful of people showed up today unfortunately,” Thomas comments trying to keep the conversation going even though he knew it was useless. Newt gives his usual nod of his head as he pets at a cat named Gally. Thomas scoffs and shakes his head.

“You are seriously the only one who doesn’t get that damn cat’s fury,” Thomas huffs with a glare to the cat, who just slants his eyes back at him. Newt actually chuckles at that but doesn’t say anything. Thomas watches the boy interact with the cats as he goes over to start cleaning the hamsters’ cages. 

“Not going to get a cat again today?” Thomas asks offhandedly as he takes the hamsters out of their cages and into a temporary one. He looks over at Newt just in time to see a shake of his head. Thomas chuckles.

“You play with those cats every day it seems like and you’re not going to get one? You’re totally a cat person who will probably end up have twenty cats in their future,” Thomas jokes. He sees the corner of Newt’s lips go up. Joy rises in Thomas’s chest. He loves making Newt smile. It’s the simple things it seems like. Plus, Newt was obviously someone who doesn’t talk much so making him smile seemed like some sort of win. 

“You come here so often. Do you go to school?” Thomas asks, keeping frustration out of his tone when he spills some of the substrate on the floor. It’s silent for a while and he doesn’t expect a response until he hears a silent answer. 

“I start college in spring.” 

“Oh cool! Me too. Had to get money you know? What are you going to study?” Thomas asks, generally curious in learning more about Newt. All he knew about him is that he’s quiet, had a sister, and loved cats. 

It was a process.

“Fashion design.” 

“Oh? That’s really cool,” Thomas responds honestly. It made sense. Newt always wore some sort of fashionable outfit. “I’m going to study law.” 

“Cool.” 

Thomas looks over to find Newt sitting comfortably against the wall with three cats on his lap, petting them routinely. He looked really down like he always does, but it seemed like today he was worse, and Thomas wished he could do something to make the other happy. There were cats all around the blond and even though Newt looked down, he still looked cute surrounded by them. The cats must sense his sadness because they were meowing and purring. 

Okay, he so didn’t just think that Newt was cute.

Thomas scrubs at the metal cages one more time before reaching to put the hamsters back into them. He places the cages back in their places and then leans back against the counter, looking at Newt. Thomas furrows his eyebrows when he sees the even more doleful look on the blonde’s face. He looked so upset and seemed like he was lost in his thoughts. He ran his fingers lightly through one of the cat’s, Ben to be exact, fur while his mind was elsewhere. He was staring at floor with empty eyes, and Thomas was worried if he did something or say something. He traces over their conversation and doesn’t think of anything he did. 

Did something happen to him?

“Hey..are you okay?” Thomas asks worriedly. Newt at first didn’t have a reaction until a moment later when he seems to have pulled himself out of his thoughts. He looks up at Thomas dazedly and shakes his head after thinking about it. 

Something in Thomas saddens. 

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asks, walking closer. The movement must’ve shocked Newt because suddenly he stands up and uncomfortably makes his way to the door, careful with how close he gets to Thomas. Rejection hits Thomas like a train and he jerks forward.

“Wait don’t go-“

“Don’t worry about it.” 

Then Newt stands up and was gone.

****

It’s been a whole week since Newt came to the store. Thomas was going crazy with need for seeing the blond. He probably scared him off! God he probably scared him off with his questions and his want to get to know him. Why did he have to be so invasive? 

Even the cats were acting weird. They were a lot more hissy and crude than they usually were. Gally had scratched every single person who dared to try to hold him, let alone pet him. He had to put the damn thing in a cage by two hours of being open. 

_He really missed Newt_.

Now it was the eighth day of Newt’s absence. The day was almost over and Thomas grudgingly got ready to close the store. He cleaned the store and fed all the animals dinner before heading to the break room to get his stuff. When he heads back to the door though, he spots a certain blond playing with the now happy, meowing cats. Excitement shoots all over Thomas and he smiles wide when he takes in the sight. 

“Newt! It’s been a week! Feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” Thomas welcomes back, trying not to sound so invasive like he’s been. He tries not to ask what’s been keeping the boy away, but god he really wanted to know. 

When he walks closer to the boy, he spots something heartbreaking. 

Newt’s body was shaking. Thomas freezes when he hears sniffles coming from the shaking form. All the cats were surrounding Newt as he held them loosely with trembling hands. Thomas was completely taken off guard.

“Newt?” Thomas asks in a whisper. Dread fills him even more when Newt peeks over his shoulder at him and he sees teary eyes and a red face. Thomas parts his lips.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..” Newt rambles, sniffling even louder now and tears streaming down faster. Thomas stood motionless, not sure of what to do for the crying boy. Newt was now sitting with his knees up to his chest with his arms around himself. 

“I’m sorry..I usually come here to stop crying but it seems like coming this time made me cry harder..” Newt says with a whimpering tone that made Thomas stomach flip and nausea set in. What made Newt feel like this? What or who made him cry? Anger floods Thomas’s senses, but he gets his mind straight when Newt speaks again.

“As you know, I don’t have cats of my own…I like to come here because cats are so peaceful…” Newt hiccups. “It’s like they can read your mind. They know when I need comfort..” 

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asks once Newt stops talking. Newt peers at him for only a second before going back to looking at the cats who were meowing. Thomas smiles when Newt gives the cat, Chuck, a sad smile. 

“There’s a lot of things wrong,” Newt finally answers. He looks up at Thomas with an unsure look. 

“I just like coming here because..it makes me not sad anymore.” 

“I’m glad,” Thomas responds, feeling dumb saying that but he had nothing else to say that would not make Newt uncomfortable. What could he say? ‘I’m glad I can bring you comfort’? Or ‘I’ll do anything to make you not sad anymore’? Or even better, ‘I really like you and I really like when you’re here and I’m glad you’re happy when you’re here’? 

“I really like when you talk to me.” 

Thomas whips his focus back on Newt when he hears his words. His face completely turns red and so does Newt, but at least the blond didn’t look like he was going to continue crying. He actually had a smile on his face, like a grateful smile.

“I like when you ask how my day was. I like when you ramble about your day. I like when you ask me questions like you’re generally interested,” Newt clarifies with a blushed face. He was now back to petting the cats. 

“I really like when you smile at me like I’m the most interesting person in the world.” 

Thomas coughs, taken back by the statement. Was his crush on him so obvious? 

Dammit, he remembers how empty he’s felt with Newt gone for the past week. He remembers sulking home after working a long day, pissed that Newt didn’t show up. Newt didn’t say much, but god he was just so sweet and caring. He was silent, but his actions and aura made him so likeable, and made Thomas want Newt to like him.

Okay, yeah he does have a huge crush on him.

“I like you Thomas. I also like how you make me feel.” 

Thomas jumps when suddenly Newt stands up and walks over to him. Thomas didn’t know whether to wave his feelings off or not but he couldn’t get his damn legs to work. He was left there unable to move as Newt walks up to him and stands in front of him, eyeing him with a small grin on his face. 

“I-I um,” Thomas tries to get out but his mouth went dry. “I just like getting to know you,” Thomas stutters out lowly. 

He feels a few of the cats rub against his leg and he’s distracted enough to not see Newt lean forward, so he’s shocked when just then a pair of lips were on his cheek, planting a kiss there. He looks at Newt with shocked eyes and dropped jaw. Newt gives him a small smile. 

“Thank you,” Newt thanks him with slightly watery eyes. He looked so sad that it ached Thomas to reach out and hug him, but he didn’t know what was happening. 

Looking at Newt though, he realizes that he didn’t need to know what was happening. 

He just needed to find a way to make Newt happy again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it :)


End file.
